A greener version of an icon, welcome the Veggie Dog

The IKEA Food Lab has been busy lately developing, tasting and testing the perfect bite and are soon ready to welcome a new hero in the IKEA food family. Please welcome, the Veggie hot dog!

IKEA Food sets out to inspire people to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle by supplying tasty food that has a positive impact on people and the planet. “Every year 660 million people enjoy the IKEA Food offer and we see this global reach as an opportunity as well as a responsibility to serve food that is good for people and the planet.” says Michael La Cour, Managing Director at IKEA Food.

Michael La Cour, Managing Director at IKEA Food

The aim with the new IKEA Veggie hot dog is to develop a more sustainable option for the customers when enjoying that obligatory bite after a visit to IKEA. The ambitions are high: to develop a delicious product that will be as loved as the iconic IKEA hot dog.

“By adding the Veggie hot dog to the offer, we show that we they are on the way to include more plant-based ingredients in the range and of course, offer healthier products.” Michael continues.

The secret formula of a new food icon.

Making the new Veggie Dog

Testing the prototype

The Veggie hot dog is still under development and multiple tests have been done in order to find the right balance and combination of ingredients to get the best veggie hot dog possible. As a part of the product development process a prototype, a kind of work in progress, of the new plant-based hot dog will be tested at the IKEA store in Malmö, Sweden starting mid-February 2018.

”As always when we develop new products we have to secure that it is delicious and that our customers like it. There is no point in creating a more sustainable option for our customers if it isn’t tasty. With the new Veggie hot dog we can inspire and enable customers looking for a quick tasty bite in the IKEA Bistro to choose a plant-based more sustainable option at an affordable price.” says Michael.

The Veggie hot dog will be available at all IKEA stores in Europe from August 2018 and in all stores in 2019.

The chef, Alexander Magnusson, tasting the Veggie Dog

Which prototype will be the winning one?

So when did it all begin?

The hot dog at IKEA has a long history: In 1981, and true to his vision for IKEA to be affordable for the many, Ingvar Kamprad set the price of the IKEA hot dog at 5 Swedish Krona – which was half the price compared to competitors in Sweden at that that time. It was the beginning of the success story of the IKEA hot dog that today is served at IKEA stores all over the world.

Fast forward, with introducing the Veggie hot dog to the IKEA Bistro range, IKEA Food want to stay true to that vision and offer a quick, convenient and truly affordable product for all IKEA visitors to enjoy.